Aleph Bravo Tango, A Novel

“Just like a clever dance.”

Eric Jørisson (founder of El Corte in Nijmegen)

“This book didn’t just make me laugh. It also made me feel mad, happy, nostalgic, empathetic, represented, respected proud… It broke my heart and then mended it. If you want to know what happens to those who have been seduced by tango, look no further…but beware, you may find that there’s a tanguero in you too, and after that there’s no going back.”

Vio co-wrote the novel with Duro. (Duro Y Vio = Dyv) We were inspired by a 2007 conference at Harvard University about tango as a transnational culture. Also we wanted to create something that would help people to imagine a queerer tango. We forbid ourselves to use the word ‘passion’ and instead tried to articulate the experience more precisely. Argentine Tango is more than an elaborate and difficult dance, it is an international culture of intimacy, desire, and dignity. No mere romance or memoir, the intricately woven stories evoke tango’s true mysteries – the elation, the frustration, the compulsion…We released the book in 2009. Dancers came up to us to say “how did you know what I was feeling?”

Aleph Bravo Tango is available everywhere. You can of course also order the book from Amazon and other online retailers (we prefer Powell’s). But it makes a big difference to our revenues if you order the book directly through us.

Download the ebook PDF and start reading in a few minutes… Or order a paperback.

“I read this in a few hours, it was so much fun – I think I have been, or known, or experienced everyone and everything in the book.” buffmilonguera

“Every tango dancer should read this book. Beautifully written, it contains astutely perceptive observations and sensitive insights about the often so elusive intricacies of tango. In intelligently interwoven vignettes ranging from a couple of sentences to a couple of pages, we follow different fictional characters in various international locales on their journey to Buenos Aires. Perspectives switch constantly to reveal varying gender views, including those of gay couples, and the characters’ secret thoughts, their emotions, their attempts to grasp the many joys and some of the shadows of tango. A marvelous read.” isarucks

“This book is like a Pedro Almodovar film, exposing the conscious and unconscious yearnings, failings, fears, frailties, strivings and triumphs of 30 different characters who have come under the spell of Argentine Tango. If you are already a tango addict, this book will let you see tango from different perspectives than your own. If you haven’t yet been exposed to tango, be assured that this fictional account will open your eyes to a sub-culture of intimacy, creativity, sensuality, beauty and joy.” Doctor Milonga

Donatella’s heart is definitely breaking. It is a rock in a rock crushing machine, turning to dust, sending splintery shrapnel through her flesh. Her body is a cardboard robot, a pile of boxes, slightly dizzy. It is all she can do to keep herself balanced in the chair.

She can’t take her eyes off him. Brow furrowed, every move masterful. She knows exactly what that girl is experiencing. She sees him graciously wait for her to adorn before moving on to show off his footwork. She sees him pull the girl closer, she sees him do the most intimate things. He drops the girl’s right hand and then takes it up again gently, signaling with a fingertip to the wrist. She sees the girl’s uncontrollable secret smile. The girl feels he is in love with her. Every woman feels that with him.

Donatella is gravel and dust inside. Surprisingly, someone asks the cardboard robot to dance. A good dancer asks the cardboard robot to dance. The cardboard robot, bleeding where the shrapnel has exited, limps to the dance floor, and, for lack of muscle control, collapses into the old man’s arms. He doesn’t seem to notice that she is made of cardboard and exploding. So sure are his steps, so solid his embrace, so accustomed is he to dancing with beginners and women with no balance. She could be anyone. The dance is anonymous, routine, yet somehow gently caring. She wonders idly what wounds has he, for which this dance with her is balm?